While in Switzerland, one of the things I have appreciated has been shade on the sidewalk.

Shade is provided by a combination of trees and buildings, but what is interesting is that as crooked as the streets may be, there always seems to be some part of the sidewalk in the shade. This seems to stand in stark contrast to how sidewalks and road withstand are managed in the USA. One interesting component is perhaps the building height. Here in Switzerland the buildings are three to four floors above ground. Yet there seems to be plenty of sky, light, trees, and sidewalks in the shade. The shade factor is not something I’ve really seen considered in walkability scores for US property and city planning.